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Review – Pacific Northwest Ballet

PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal took a big risk with the current mixed bill program – 3 works by Ulysses Dove plus another by former hip hop artist Victor Quijada. Although 2 of the Dove ballets were already in the PNB repertoire, mixed bill programs are rarely as popular as story ballets, especially coming as this one does on the heels of two workhorses of the classical repertoire, The Nutcracker in December and Sleeping Beauty in February.

There were other risks as well. Neither Dove nor Quijada has the local name recognition of Balanchine, Robbins, Tharp or Stowell and one of the Dove works, Serious Pleasures, was so unpopular with the dancers at American Ballet Theatre (for whom the piece was created) that they refused to perform it after its initial run despite its success with audiences. In addition, 2 of the 4 pieces on the program, one by Dove and the lone Quijada ballet, push PNB’s dancers into challenging and unfamiliar body positions that run counter to the turned-out, airborne style they’ve been trained in since childhood.

It’s not hard to figure out why Boal presented these 4 works. Since arriving at PNB, he’s continued to expand the repertoire, bringing in works by choreographers whose ballets he has performed in or who will push PNB’s dancers (and audiences) in new directions. He’s been a Dove enthusiast since Dove created Red Angels for him and 3 other principals at New York City Ballet in 1994 and says that of the 30 new creations he performed during his career at NYCB, Red Angels was the most exciting.

It’s a stunning work to be sure and the four dancers at Friday night’s performance – Carla Körbes, Batkhurel Bold, Kaori Nakamura and Jonathan Porretta – threw themselves completely into the physical and emotional intensity that all of Dove’s ballets demand. Although the steps and speed are reminiscent of much of contemporary ballet, the combination of Dove’s inventiveness and the distinct personalities of these 4 dancers provided a nonstop feast of turns, leaps and extensions. Nakamura continues to grow in confidence and daring, Porretta has pulled back on his sometimes over-the-top projection so that his extraordinary technique moves front and center, Bold is starting to allow emotion to show through and Körbes, like Porretta, is learning to submerge her dazzling presence into the movement and the ensemble.

If “Red Angels” was the highlight of the evening, Serious Pleasures was a close second. It’s a dark ballet literally (the set and costumes are black with much of the movement in shadow) and in its content, a flamboyant exploration of male and female sexuality. A bit overlong with several false endings, its animalistic intensity brings out the most seductive qualities in the female dancers – including their manes of shimmering hair – and the predatory male nature as embodied by PNB’s powerful men. As the central figure, Lucien Postlewaite melds his characteristic elegance with a menacing quality that keeps the attention riveted whenever he’s on stage. The rest of the company looks terrific as well and if they had any of the same problems as the ABT dancers of 18 years ago, it was impossible to tell.

The third Dove work, Vespers, was first performed by PNB in 2008. Although the six women looked a little more comfortable in the modern dance idiom this time around, they still don’t have the sharpness or athleticism that the dance requires. On Friday night at least, the women looked too elegant as they flopped their torsos back and forth or ran from one side of the stage to the other.

Rounding out the program is Victor Quijada’s Suspension of Disbelief, a ballet-influenced reinterpretation of hip hop. Quijada, who started out in the hip hop clubs of L.A., went on to study with Twyla Tharp and Eliot Feld, eventually joining Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal and founding his own company, Rubberbandance Group. Besides being overlong, Suspension of Disbelief was more about attitude than physical prowess and Jonathan Porretta was the only PNB dancer with the appropriate swagger and style to make the movement truly come alive.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.